At Taco’s Twist, a new build-your-own Mexican place at State and Grove, the twist is that there is no twist.
Unless, like co-owner Gopi Dhamula, you think it’s rare and unexpected for a quick-service place to serve tasty food, made almost entirely in-house, using only fresh (not frozen or old) ingredients, while never using artificial colors and preservatives.
And you know what? I was surprised by how fresh and tasty my meal was. The guacamole was creamy, refreshing and herbaceous. The black and pinto beans were soft, savory and clean to a shine (not covered in that slick muddy goop so common at other places), which turns out to be a point of pride for Dhamula. The fajita veggies (sauteed onions and peppers) were earthy, sweet, salty and a little fatty. The pineapple-mango salsa was bright and crisp with a touch of vinegar. The spicy salsa was cool, then hot.
The fresh elements—cherry tomatoes, corn, purple cabbage—were not only fresh but also ripe and flavorful. The fry of the tofu was delicate, and the marinade on it, like a chili-infused barbecue sauce, was smartly balanced. The mango habanero sauce, one of four available finishes you can request on the side, was super spicy, so be careful with that one.
The Mexican rice, on the other hand, was subtle in its savoriness. The tortilla strips were plain, but their crispiness made everything else better. The soft corn taco tortillas, doubled up by default like Trader Joe’s shopping bags, were pleasing albeit nothing special, though that was apparently the one component I tried that wasn’t made in-house. (Dhamula noted they can’t currently produce their own tortillas from scratch, due to facility constraints.)
Dhamula, who came to America from India five years ago, says he and co-founder Hetal Trivedi looked at locations in “New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk [and] Stamford.” They chose the tall, open space in a far corner of The Audubon apartment building because it offers a good base of customers—and because it’s far enough way from other similar businesses to help Taco’s Twist shine, he hopes, as beautifully as those beans.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
